Note 21 - Park Sterling Corporation (Parent Company Only) - Condensed Statements of Income (Details) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands
 3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016
Sep. 30, 2016
Jun. 30, 2016
Mar. 31, 2016
Dec. 31, 2015
Sep. 30, 2015
Jun. 30, 2015
Mar. 31, 2015
Dec. 31, 2016
Dec. 31, 2015
Dec. 31, 2014
Income                      
Gain (Loss) on sale of securities available-for-sale                 $ (87) $ 54 $ 180
Expense                      
Total interest expense $ 3,640 $ 3,621 $ 3,649 $ 3,565 $ 2,263 $ 2,067 $ 1,842 $ 1,759 14,475 7,931 7,655
Other noninterest expense                 9,351 5,840 4,990
Income before taxes 6,799 9,559 8,596 4,615 5,728 6,870 6,542 5,608 29,569 24,748 18,947
Income tax expense $ 1,510 $ 3,191 $ 3,046 $ 1,874 $ 1,952 $ 2,092 $ 2,273 $ 1,825 9,621 8,142 6,058
Parent Company [Member]                      
Income                      
Other interest income                 491 541 688
Gain (Loss) on sale of securities available-for-sale                 276
Other income                 1
Total income                 491 541 965
Expense                      
Total interest expense                 3,419 1,440 1,252
Other noninterest expense                 604 2,291 1,209
Total expense                 4,023 3,731 2,461
Income before taxes                 (3,532) (3,190) (1,496)
Income tax expense                 (1,754) (961) (679)
Net loss before equity in undistributed earnings of subsidiary                 (1,778) (2,229) (817)
Equity in undistributed earnings of subsidiary                 21,726 18,835 13,706
Net income                 $ 19,948 $ 16,606 $ 12,889